Just left with 90 days for CAT 2025 and we’re 100% sure that you must be wondering what your 90 Days CAT Preparation Strategy isn’t it? We absolutely agree that, like every other aspirant, you must be feeling that the temperature is soaring high with every passing day, and it might be a tough nut to crack. Well, it’s not actually true. CAT (Common Aptitude Test) is the test of smart work, temperament, consistency and dedication under pressure. Even with 90 days left on hand, you can still prepare from scratch and ace this highly competitive entrance exam with a 99% ile in 2025.
To help you out, we have come up with this detailed blog, which covers valuable information about the 90 Days CAT Preparation Strategy and the step-by-step procedure to accomplish it. It’s a masterstroke strategy created by Aditya Kumar (99.57% Achiever in CAT 2024) for those candidates who aim to commence their preparation for CAT 2025 from today and crack it with a 99%ile. Even if you have a clock ticking, you can follow this blueprint to master the three prominent sections, i.e, Quantitative Aptitude (QA), Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC) and Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR) with the smoothest approach. Read this informative resource further and learn the best strategies curated by a 2024 topper to turn your weaknesses into strengths to qualify for CAT 2025 hassle-free.
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90 Days CAT Preparation Strategy For 2025 Aspirants
The golden rule of the 90 Days CAT Preparation Strategy is that you don’t have to run behind to complete the 100% syllabus. That should not be your strategy during this 90-day sprint. Most of the candidates often get stuck on one topic, which eventually leads to multiple backlogs. Such candidates don’t understand that it’s not mandatory to cover the entire syllabus, due to which they start lagging in comparison to their peers. Eventually, they spend unnecessary time on a particular topic, which prohibits them from studying the other significant topics that hold a considerable weightage in the question paper.
According to Aditya Ranjan, CAT is mainly conducted to evaluate the problem-solving and decision-making skills of the students. You don’t need to have a profound understanding of the overall syllabus and answer every question. What’s important is that you’re familiar with the high-weightage and low-weightage topics and follow the 80-20 rule to study them in a detailed manner. In the upcoming sections, we will clearly address the fundamental tips to follow this rule, along with the importance of appearing for regular mock tests and CAT past year questions.
Use 80/20 Rule: Pareto Principle
Start to study those 20% topics that hold a considerable weightage and constitute 80% of the question paper. Whenever you start your 90 Days CAT Preparation Strategy, focus on covering topics that are repetitive in PYQs. For Example, Arithmetic and Algebra are crucial topics from the Quants section. If you grasp the basic and advanced concepts from these topics thoroughly, you can easily solve 14-15 questions from the total of 22. Isn’t it a win-win situation?
Like you’re solving more than half of the questions from the quants section, and that too by studying just two topics. Opt for the same strategy for DILR/VARC and study fundamental topics from which questions appear every year in the CAT exam.
How Should You Implement the 40-30-20 Rule for CAT 2025?
According to Aditya Ranjan – CAT 99 Percentiler and mentor, aspirants must opt for the 40-30-20 rule to ensure that the 90 Day CAT Preparation Strategy leads to fruitful results. This rule is divided into three different stages. Here’s how you should adhere to this rule and how it can be highly advantageous for you.
Stage 1: First 40 Days
Cover the basics from every section. As mentioned above, pick Algebra and Arithmetic from the QA section. Similarly, strengthen your basics from the remaining two sections too. Secondly, start appearing for mock tests from now onwards. No matter whether you have completed 0%, 10%, 20%, 30% or 80% of the syllabus, go ahead and practice mock tests. Be brutally honest with yourself and conduct a performance analysis after every mock attempt. It doesn’t matter whether you achieve a negative score or don’t reach your target score. This time is purely for diagnosis, so that you’re able to test the waters and comprehend which topics are your strengths and in which areas you lack conceptual clarity.
- Quantitative Aptitude: Apart from studying major topics, allocate a specific duration to cover uncommon topics. For topics like Number System, Geometry, Modern Maths and P&C, you don’t have to spend a lot of time. Just a few hours of study are enough to master them rather than neglecting them. It’s because at least one question will be asked from these topics in the CAT, and it will be unconventional advice to skip them. If you miss studying them during the 90 Days CAT Preparation Strategy, then you’ll obviously get bewildered while seeing such questions in front of you. Study Modern Maths, P&C a bit and put an extra effort to cover Geometry. Remember that CAT is a game of scoring high percentile and not percentage. You have to pay more attention to cover important topics, but you cannot overlook the less popular ones.
- Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning: When it comes to DILR, Aditya suggests that aspirants should solve a wide array of question sets. Go through PYQs from the DILR section and analyse which type of questions are asked from the Arrangements, Roots and Networks, Games and Tournaments, Venn Diagrams, etc. All these topics sum up the major segment of the DILR section, and if you practice questions from them, you can easily score the highest marks in this section too.
- Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension: For VARC, aspirants shouldn’t go through The Guardian or AEON Essays right now. Instead, one should solve 3-4 distinct RC passages and 5-6 VA questions side by side. Give at least 3-4 hours daily to the VARC section. Above all, you should practice more and more RC passages from different subjects to solve critical-reasoning and inferential questions at your fingertips. If you get stuck between two options, then watch the video solutions of an iQuanta expert or your chosen faculty and understand their mindset behind eliminating the odd one out. You should analyse carefully the techniques they used to find the correct answer from the two options.
Stage 2: Next 30 Days
The second phase of your 90 Days CAT Preparation Strategy must include consistent revision. It’s compulsory to revise thoroughly whatever you have studied in the past 40 days. This will exhibit perfectionism and sheer determination of hardwork. Take the next step and appear for two mocks per week. Rather than getting scared of mocks, appear for maximum mocks, which will help you to analyse your performance. Nothing can boost your scores except the mock scores. So, practice every bit and attempt endless full-length and sectional tests in these 30 days.
Access iQuanta Resources for Revision
Candidates can dive deep into extensive revision with the help of informative resources prepared by iQuanta experts. For RC, you can refer to playlists created by Shabana Ma’am on the YouTube channel. Likewise, we have a separate playlist for Arithmetic, Algebra, DILR Topics like Games and Tournaments, etc. Furthermore, we also have a different playlist which comprises CAT PYQs with video solutions.
Additional Tips To Remember
- Revise your weak topics and solve as many questions from them. If you lack in Geometry, pick multiple questions to solve from that section.
- Watch the basic videos first, watch the video solutions to resolve them. In your next attempt, solve the same question without watching the video solutions. This way, it will be easier for you to interpret the questions and solve them with the simplest tricks in a short span.
- Practice sectionals or full-length mocks on digital devices rather than using textbooks to get stimulated for the actual exam day. We all know that CAT is a CBT (Computer-Based Test), and a candidate must be well-versed with the navigation to avoid any inconvenience on the actual day.
- Enrol for the CAT Mock Test Series offered by iQuanta and take your 90 Days CAT Preparation Strategy to the topmost level. We have 80 mock tests for CAT 2025. Out of these, 35 are full mocks and 45 are sectionals. Upon enrolling for this course, you will get a performance analysis report via AI, track your errors, set your goals to prepare accordingly for your desired dream school, etc.
Stage 3: Remaining 20 Days
20 days before the CAT examination is the actual period when you can analyse whether your 90 Days CAT Preparation Strategy followed so far is worth it or not! Initially, you have to start revising the important formulas and shortcuts written down in a single notebook. Moreover, it’s time that you increase your mock frequency. Make them your best friend and solve CAT PYQs from 2021,2023, and 2024 twice.
Learn every question and answer by heart so that if any similar question pops up, you can mark the answer correctly due to remembering them. In 2024, when Aditya appeared for the CAT, two questions were asked from the past year. Within 10 seconds, he marked the answers, which helped him score six marks. So you must have understood now that the appearance of PYQs and remembering the answers act as a motivation for the students. It boosts their confidence and makes their percentile go from 95% to 98% which is near to the cut-off.
Final Words
It’s recommended that you follow every step included in this 90 Days CAT Preparation Strategy to hit a 99%ile in the CAT this year. Primarily, dedicate maximum time to mock test practice in the last 20 days. Double your mock test attempts and pick CAT PYQs from the 2021, 2023,2024 to get an idea about repetitive topics and questions. At times, questions from previous years are repeated, and if you already know how to solve them or remember the answer, then you’re already saving enough time. Moreover, it’s sure-shot that you will obtain +3 positive marking for such correct responses. Lastly, remember that after every mock test, you have to evaluate your performance. Thus, allocate 5-6 hours every alternate day and review the frequent errors, create an error log and implement the right strategies to answer those questions with a correct approach before the actual deadline.
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